Patrick Fahy, 34, was born in Rogers Park into a family of five. Mom's specialties were meatloaf and corn chowder with bacon, dad's was French omelets. He spent a year and half in Italy, first at the Apicius cooking school in Florence, then cooking for chef Andrea Bianchini. Back in the States, he worked in restaurants, then several bakeries before landing at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. It was there his focus turned to pastry.

"At the Ritz, I heard all these stories from the managers about Sebastien Canonne. ... One day someone said, 'Oh yeah, he has a school here in town.' I did the math and thought, 'OK, Can I do 20 grand?'"

He did, studying chocolate with Canonne, sugar with Jacquy Pfeiffer.

"Did it ever change me," says Fahy, who also met his wife at the school. "They made sense. They gave me the temperatures. They explained humidity and crystallization. Of course, if I wasn't able to apply it once I got out of school, it would have just gone down the chute."

But apply it he did with a stage (unpaid internship) at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry (creating a dessert of thin almond dacquoise, almond cream layers and candied plums for his tryout), followed by stints at Blackbird and Sofitel Chicago Water Tower.

"I still remember every boss I ever had, every teacher I ever had. I always have little memory capsules releasing words they said in my head. ... Every now and then you're doing your job and you go, 'Wow, I'm glad I listened that day because it's helping right now.'"

At Trump, where he's been for a year, he oversees a staff that prepares sweets for two restaurants (Rebar and the 4-star Sixteen), room service, the Terrace and banquets.

"Creativity starts with being in play mode — that's a John Cleese line I stole. When you're in working mode ... you're following a recipe, there's no second thought about it," says Fahy, who's been nominated for James Beard Foundation awards. "When you're in play mode, you're 'OK, let's have some fun. If we change the texture of that, what's it going to be like?'"

Most important tool?

"I used to say spatula, I used to say thermometer, then I finally got smart and said it's my hands. ... A tool is something to speed up the process that your hands can't do."

Ingredients you love playing with?

"It's texture. Like making a puree so it's warm, so it's cold, so it's a silky-smooth sauce or so it's like a granite (granita) so it's crumbly."

Toughest thing you've had to learn?

"Sugar blowing. I'm still working on it."

Ever make mistakes?

"Every day. ... (In) Italy, I was making a big batch of pastry cream. It was in the beginning. I didn't know my Italian yet so what I thought was cornstarch was actually powdered sugar. It didn't thicken up and was really, really soupy. Andrea figured out what happened and politely whispered in my ear: 'Just take it over to the toilet and flush it.'"